Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), Washington, D.C., released the SipSource 2025 Q2 Report, offering a comprehensive look at U.S. wine and spirits depletion trends through the first half of the year. Data in the report underscores ongoing category challenges, evolving consumer behaviors, and areas of cautious optimism as the industry navigates persistent macroeconomic and market headwinds. 

“Consumer confidence right now is fragile, and continued trade volatility including concerns over tariffs and supply chain instability is adding to the pressure facing the industry,” said SipSource analyst Dale Stratton in a statement. “These factors are shaping purchasing patterns, slowing recovery, and forcing industry stakeholders, everyone from producers to importers to wholesalers and retailers, to rethink inventory, pricing and promotional strategies.”

Demand remained soft across categories in the first half of the year with spirits falling 6% in volume and down 5% in revenue, while wine posted sharper drops of -8.7% in volume and -8.5% in revenue. On a rolling 12-month basis, spirits dropped a more modest, but significant -4.1% and -3.8% in volume/revenue trends, and wine is down -7.2% and -6.6% in volume/revenue trends. 

In June 2025, wine’s sustained downturn reached its 52nd consecutive month of negative volume growth. Declines in premiumization and distribution remain a concern, particularly in on-premise channels where local purveyors continue to optimize wine lists and prioritize cash flow over large selections and inventories. Dining, which accounts for more than half (56%) of wine revenue and 58% of Wine Points of Distribution (PODs) is down -7.2% and -7%, respectively. Prosecco and Champagne are notable exceptions, showing modest to strong growth mid-year. 

After multiple months of volume growth outpacing revenue, premiumization trends are re-emerging in key categories. Revenue declines are now consistently less severe than volume declines, particularly in premium-plus price tiers, the association says. While overall spirits performance remains negative, tequila/agave spirits remain a bright spot, up 1.1% in volume and up 0.7% in revenue in the latest 12-month rolling data.

The ready-to-drink (RTD) growth has begun to slow but remains a net driver of category growth. 

“The RTD category continues to be a net growth driver, albeit at lower rates than in recent years,” said SipSource Analyst Danny Brager in a statement. “And according to other industry data sets like NIQ scans, we’ve seen a focused shift away from malt-based beverages to spirits-based ready-to-drinks.”

According to NIQ data, during the first six months of 2025, the total RTD category is up 1.7% in revenue but down 3.2% in volume. While overall growth is slowing, spirits-based RTDs were up 19.6%, with wine-based up 12.4% and malt-based products down 0.8%.